Izuchukwu OkosiTottenham Hotspur is preparing talks with manager Antonio Conte over the terms of his expected exit, with former Spurs midfielder Ryan Mason taking the team as they trained for the first time since the Italian’s vicious verbal attack.
The former AC Milan, Juventus and Chelsea manager during his post-match conference following their 3-3 draw against Everton criticised his players for their seeming lackadaisical approach to games.
Spurs were leading 3-1 at some point in the match but let a two-goal lead slip through their hands with the Toffes restoring parity.
In line with job severance packages, Chairman Daniel Levy is ready to sack Conte during the current international break with internal discussions over the terms of his exit now underway.
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The Italian has just three months left on his current deal, which is worth £ 15 million a year – meaning Conte is due in the region of £ 4 million in compensation, excluding the money owed to his staff.
Discussions over a potential severance package have now taken place at Tottenham, though there are no indications yet of what Conte might agree to.
Spurs hold an option to extend Conte’s deal by an extra 12 months, however, it is understood there is no obligation for Spurs to compensate their current head coach for that extension clause.
If an agreement is reached, Conte’s departure is expected to be concluded at a swift pace.
Mason, who works under the Italian, is a contender to replace Conte on a short-term basis and he took the team on Tuesday in his absence.
Conte has returned to Italy to spend time with his family during the international break.
Tuesday’s session was the first since Conte’s stunning verbal tirade against his own players, which looks likely to cost him his job at Spurs.
The club have already started identifying candidates to replace Conte on a long-term basis.
Though if Mason is handed the reins on an interim basis and impresses in the remaining 10 matches he could yet come into contention as a long-term option.
Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino and Luis Enrique are among the most high-profile names currently under consideration.
Roberto De Zerbi, Marco Silva, Steve Cooper, Thomas Frank, Oliver Glasner and Ange Postecoglou are among the others also being considered.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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